Sometimes it's hard being a prospective The Last Guardian fan. With an original launch window set for somewhere around the winter 2011 mark, the spiritual successor to Ico and Shadow of the Colossus has had what seems like a rocky few years in development. Several no-shows at large industry events, combined with staff troubles and other quasi-concerns, have left some fans in sorry, slightly panicked state. So should they be worried? According to Sony Worldwide Studios head Shuhei Yoshida, the answer to that question is a negative.

Speaking with gaming site Eurogamer at Gamescom this week, Yoshida was quick to remind onlookers that, despite any worries, The Last Guardian is still an ongoing project. "The team is still working on it very hard," said Yoshida. "There are certain technical issues they've been working on. That's the period of time when the game, looking from the outside, doesn't seem to be making much progress. But internally there is a lot of work going into creating the title."

What was with that whole 2011-release-actually-wait-no incident, then? According to Yoshida, "We had the game playable...At one point we felt that it would be produced for a certain time period. That was the time we prematurely talked about the launch window. But it turned out the technical issues are much harder to solve. So the engineering team had to go back and re-do some of the work they had done."

Yoshida concluded by saying that The Last Guardian, despite PS4 rumors to the contrary, remains in development for the PS3. For a reminder of how gorgeous the concepts for this game are, and perhaps the reasons behind why engineering it correctly is proving to be such a trial, here's a link to that stunning trailer from 2009. The giant bird-bat-puppy who stars in the trailer looks pretty chilled out; maybe we should take a collective page from his book regarding future news about this game.

I would not start doubting just yet, there could be a new creative mind or two in the studio still that can pump out a great game, I have hope until I see reviews and gameplay of the complete game to base an opinion off of.

Irridium:Phwew. Got scared there for a second. Glad it's still in development.

Yeah, but without Fumito Ueda, who was the creative mind behind all three games.

With him gone I have serious doubts regarding The Last Guardian.

He's still working on it as a consultant. Plus, if I'm reading it right they're just working on technical stuff. Story/writing/all that stuff would be set by now.

I hope, at least.

I heard about the freelance consultant spin, but somehow I'm not buying it. Why did he even leave his own project if things weren't very, very wrong with where the game was going, or with Sony hassling him about content? These games were always his babies that he made the way he wanted to make them. So if the creative motivation/drive of a very personal project leaves the development team I'm not at all hopeful for the end result.

And even if he's overseeing the rest of the game as a consultant, because he burned out or something, they still lost the frikking game director. Even with story/writting in place (which Team Ico never had too much of) the lack of a creative personallity like Ueda to put his stamp on it will be a detrimental to the final product.

Why yes, yes it is hard to be a fan awaiting this game. I'm sure much of the bad news surrounding the game has sent a few fans to the hospital. An actual cancellation could call for requiring an actual ward for them.

As much as Sony keeps assuring us of the game's development (well, at least shining more light than Square does for FFvsXII), there's still that nagging doubt in my head that will only be satisfied with at least some recent screenshots or clips (a hug would be nice too).

Casual Shinji:Yeah, but without Fumito Ueda, who was the creative mind behind all three games.

With him gone I have serious doubts regarding The Last Guardian.

He's still working on it as a consultant. Plus, if I'm reading it right they're just working on technical stuff. Story/writing/all that stuff would be set by now.

I hope, at least.

I heard about the freelance consultant spin, but somehow I'm not buying it. Why did he even leave his own project if things weren't very, very wrong with where the game was going, or with Sony hassling him about content? These games were always his babies that he made the way he wanted to make them. So if the creative motivation/drive of a very personal project leaves the development team I'm not at all hopeful for the end result

You do realize a person can leave a company for reasons other than hating it or not having any creative energy, right? We literally know nothing of the cirumstances, why are you assuming the worst automatically?

He's still working on it as a consultant. Plus, if I'm reading it right they're just working on technical stuff. Story/writing/all that stuff would be set by now.

I hope, at least.

I heard about the freelance consultant spin, but somehow I'm not buying it. Why did he even leave his own project if things weren't very, very wrong with where the game was going, or with Sony hassling him about content? These games were always his babies that he made the way he wanted to make them. So if the creative motivation/drive of a very personal project leaves the development team I'm not at all hopeful for the end result

You do realize a person can leave a company for reasons other than hating it or not having any creative energy, right? We literally know nothing of the cirumstances, why are you assuming the worst automatically?

Because Fumito Ueda has been the driving force behind these games.

Him leaving this project is like Hideo Kojima leaving Metal Gear Solid 3 or Shinji Mikami leaving Resident Evil 4. He wouldn't leave unless A) his control of the content is being restricted as such that he can't work properly anymore, B) he's seriously burned out or has other personal issues, C) got on the bad side of one or more SCEJ bigwigs, or D) he suddenly just doesn't care about making this game anymore.

Whatever the reason, he's gone now, and with that is my faith that this game will be of the same pedigree as Ico and Shadow of the Colossus.

Casual Shinji:I heard about the freelance consultant spin, but somehow I'm not buying it. Why did he even leave his own project if things weren't very, very wrong with where the game was going, or with Sony hassling him about content? These games were always his babies that he made the way he wanted to make them. So if the creative motivation/drive of a very personal project leaves the development team I'm not at all hopeful for the end result

You do realize a person can leave a company for reasons other than hating it or not having any creative energy, right? We literally know nothing of the cirumstances, why are you assuming the worst automatically?

Because Fumito Ueda has been the driving force behind these games.

Him leaving this project is like Hideo Kojima leaving Metal Gear Solid 3 or Shinji Mikami leaving Resident Evil 4. He wouldn't leave unless A) his control of the content is being restricted as such that he can't work properly anymore, B) he's seriously burned out or has other personal issues, C) got on the bad side of one or more SCEJ bigwigs, or D) he suddenly just doesn't care about making this game anymore.

Whatever the reason, he's gone now, and with that is my faith that this game will be of the same pedigree as Ico and Shadow of the Colossus.

Like everyone else has said, he's still working on the game. So he hasn't left production of the game.

Foolproof:You do realize a person can leave a company for reasons other than hating it or not having any creative energy, right? We literally know nothing of the cirumstances, why are you assuming the worst automatically?

Because Fumito Ueda has been the driving force behind these games.

Him leaving this project is like Hideo Kojima leaving Metal Gear Solid 3 or Shinji Mikami leaving Resident Evil 4. He wouldn't leave unless A) his control of the content is being restricted as such that he can't work properly anymore, B) he's seriously burned out or has other personal issues, C) got on the bad side of one or more SCEJ bigwigs, or D) he suddenly just doesn't care about making this game anymore.

Whatever the reason, he's gone now, and with that is my faith that this game will be of the same pedigree as Ico and Shadow of the Colossus.

Like everyone else has said, he's still working on the game. So he hasn't left production of the game.

Yes, as a freelance consultant. He went from directing the entire production to being a consultant without pay.

Doesn't that strike you as one hell of a major change for a guy who spearheaded the previous two games?